NEW YORK (WABC) — Rare books by Keats, Wilde and Joyce that were stolen in the 1980s from the home of the sportsman, investor, publisher, philanthropist and ambassador John Hay Whitney were returned to his heirs Monday after they were intercepted by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.<\/p>\n
The books were stolen from Whitney’s Long Island home between 1982 and 1989 and resurfaced last year in Manhattan when someone tried to sell two of them to rare book dealers.<\/p>\n
The books were then seized pursuant to search warrants, and in 2026 a judge authorized them to be turned over to the Whitney family. The heirs will auction the books, which are collectively valued at nearly $3 million, and donate the proceeds.<\/p>\n
“Manhattan is the cultural capital of the world, home to museums, galleries, and dealers displaying incredible artworks and antiquities. Yet the integrity of this marketplace is undermined when stolen items are on display. We will not allow our borough to be a center for trafficked art and antiquities, and I thank our team of prosecutors and investigators for their work on this case,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement announcing the return.<\/p>\n
John Whitney was a highly decorated World War II veteran, publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, president of the Museum of Modern Art, and Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He was also an avid art collector and inherited hundreds of rare books from his mother, the poet Helen Hay.<\/p>\n
Between 1982 and 1989, at least 28 of the books were stolen from the Whitney estate.<\/p>\n
“At the time the estate was open for people to walk around the grounds and there was nonstop construction,” said Matthew Bogdanos with the Antiquities Trafficking Unit.<\/p>\n
The family first noticed them missing in 1989 and contacted the Nassau County Police Department. In 2025, an individual attempted to sell 17 of these books to B&B Rare Books and Adam Weinberger Rare Books in Manhattan, claiming he inherited the books from his grandfather.<\/p>\n
Both dealers proactively contacted authorities after discovering the books were listed on the Art Loss Register. The district attorney’s office obtained search warrants and seized the books in 2025 and 2026.<\/p>\n
The person who tried selling the books in the city isn’t a suspect and wasn’t even born when the heist happened, officials said.<\/p>\n
The investigation into how the books were stolen from the Whitney estate and the status of the 11 other missing books is ongoing.<\/p>\n
Among the 17 books returned is a bound collection of 37 love letters written by the British Romantic poet John Keats to his fianc\u00e9e Fanny Brawne. This edition of the collection features eight of the original handwritten letters bound into the portfolio, including the first letter he ever wrote to her. At her death, Fanny bequeathed the letters to her children, who sold them at auction in 1885. Their sale inspired Oscar Wilde to write a sonnet, “On the Sale By Auction of Keats’ Love Letters.” They are currently valued at more than $2,000,000.<\/p>\n
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